Question
RE3 have been charging for DIY household waste since September 2016. This is against the advice of two Conservative cabinet ministers and some junior ministers.
Can you advise me when RE3 will be taking the advice of your very senior colleagues and ceasing making these charges which as you know may well be unlawful?
Minutes:
Question
re3 have been charging for DIY household waste since September 2016. This is against the advice of two Conservative cabinet ministers and some junior ministers.
Can you advise me when re3 will be taking the advice of your very senior colleagues and ceasing making these charges which as you know may well be unlawful.
Answer
Firstly just to state that re3 does not charge for household waste so your question is incorrect. re3, as you are aware, is the waste management partnership between Bracknell, Reading and Wokingham Councils and manages the recycling centres in Bracknell and in Reading. Like all local authorities re3 has a statutory duty to provide waste management services for household waste, but in common with other councils, the re3 partner councils have introduced charges for the disposal of ‘non-household’ wastes such as soil, rubble, and so on.
If on the other hand you are proposing to stop charging for this waste then please tell me how much you would increase the council tax by to compensate the loss of this income?
Supplementary Question
There are several councils that disagree with re3 policy and do not charge for what is described as DIY household waste; and that is a description that comes from your own Government. So I am very disappointed that you are not changing your policy. Let us see what the current Secretary of State says because I have not had a reply from him yet. If he says that you should not be charging for DIY waste will you urge re3 to change their policy?
Supplementary Answer
If the Government changes legislation so that we cannot charge then clearly we will follow that legislation.
Just to be clear re3 charges for the following sorts of things just to read from their policy. Things like: bricks, breezeblocks, concrete, cement, drainage pipes, gravel, hardcore, paving slabs, rubble, sand, sanitary ware, slates, stone, tarmac and tiles. So it is all those sorts of things that re3 charges for.
In the Controlled Waste Regulations 2012 it states that waste from construction or demolition works, including preparatory work, is defined as industrial waste.
While in opposition Liberals will say just about anything to gain a few votes but once in power they change their tune. You asked about other councils Cornwall Council, which is controlled by a Liberal and independent alliance also charges for waste. As does the Liberal controlled Portsmouth City Council. Taking plasterboard as an example Cornwall charges £4 a bag, Portsmouth £6 a bag and re3 £3 a bag.
In Portsmouth a decision was made on 22 September 2016 to commence charging. The Liberals complained about this and said it should be reversed. The Liberals then took control of Portsmouth City Council earlier this year. Surprise, surprise on 13 July 2018 the Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety considered a paper on the future of charging for the waste and took the decision to continue with the charges. So just look at your own colleagues before you start whingeing about other people.